The Three Inch Fools are a five-strong troupe of actors with all manner of musical instruments, travelling with set, props, costumes and camping gear, performing a highly imaginative and vibrantly musical take on Shakespeare’s plays. This year’s production is Hamlet on Sunday 19 August.

We recommend that you bring blankets/chairs to sit on. Do bring coats and warm clothing, and if rain is forecast bring a raincoat. We ask that you don’t bring umbrellas as these can obscure the view for other people in the audience. In the event of rain the performance will continue! The performance starts at 2.30pm, picnics welcome from 1pm.

The performance is in the grounds at Mapperton at 2.30pm on Sunday 19 August 2018. Tickets are £15 for adults; £12 for concessions (senior citizens and under-18s), obtainable from the Mapperton Estate office on 01308 862645, or on the gate.

Four internationally acclaimed musicians are to perform at two concerts this autumn in All Saints Church, beside Mapperton House. In the first concert on 12th September tenor Mark Padmore will sing Dowland and Schubert, accompanied by guitarist Morgan Szymanski, and on 2nd October Steven Isserlis will play three Bach sonatas accompanied by Maggie Cole on the harpsichord.

We are sorry that the Steven Isserlis concert is now full.

To book tickets for Mark Padmore on 12th September please call 01308 862 645 or email office@mapperton.com.

Saturday 12th September 2015 7.00pm

Mark Padmore and Morgan Szymanski

Mark Padmore after a choral scholarship to King’s College, Cambridge, graduated with an honours degree in music. Now he has a flourishing career in opera, concert and recital. His appearances in Bach Passions are famous especially his performances as Evangelist in the St Matthew and St John Passions with the Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle.

Morgan Szymanski is described as ‘a player destined for future glories’ and has been highlighted as ‘One to Watch’ by both Gramophone Magazine and the BBC Music Magazine. Featured on the cover of Classical Guitar Magazine, Morgan Szymanski was recently selected as a finalist for the ‘Outstanding Young Artist Award’.

Programme

DOWLAND: Come ye heavy states of night
DOWLAND: Come again, sweet love
DOWLAND: Now, O now I needs must part
ROTH: The Unicorn in the Garden (guitar solo)
ROTH: My Lute and I (words by Thomas Wyatt)

Friday 2nd October 2015 7.00pm

Steven Isserlis and Maggie Cole

Steven Isserlis is famous worldwide for his musicianship and interpretation. A British cellist, he enjoys a vastly distinguished career as a soloist, chamber musician and educator. ‘The music world – and music itself – is infinitely richer for the presence of Steven Isserlis.’ Gramophone Magazine
Maggie Cole performs outstandingly on harpsichord, fortepiano and piano. As well as BBC Radio 3 and festivals, she has performed from Seattle to Moscow, from Finland to India. In addition to solo recitals – with Bach’s ‘Goldberg Variations’ a speciality, she frequently performs with partners including Michael Chance counter and Steven Isserlis.

http://mapperton.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Steven-cover-pic1-570x379.jpg379570lukemontaguhttp://mapperton.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/logo-200w1.pnglukemontagu2015-07-11 09:32:122016-01-13 16:02:33Star musicians playing at Mapperton concerts on 12 September and 2 October

As England is sweltering in a heat wave, I just hope our clematis have got nice cool roots, which is what they want. Clematis come from the temperate zones and don’t want over heating, originating, like so much else, often from China.

The wonderful clematis viticella are just coming out in the gardens. We have lots of the viticella type: they are easy to prune (lop ‘em down to 18 inches in March), provide lots of colour as the roses go over and are easy to grow. One of the best is Polish Spirit on the grey wall just left of the big lawn; another is Black Prince in the front courtyard. Clematis viticella alba luxurians, white flowers with dashes of green, is by the garage. I think it’s in the wrong place. Comments please on our Facebook page. What do you think? Shall I root it out?

We grow other types including lots of different clematis montana, now over and pruned. You can see the pruning right up the house. There’s clematis armandii, an early scented evergreen clematis to the right of the Orangery. And it’s named after – guess who? Pere David Armand, the same French missionary after whom davidia involucrata is named (see my previous entry) and who discovered the Giant Panda.

Then there are the herbaceous clematis, like clematis tubulosa ‘Wyevale’; there’s yellow clematis flammula, the huge, rampant, autumn flowering clematis rehderiana, and its similar rampant friend on the pergola, a garden variant of clematis vitalba (Old Man’s Beard). We have a couple of the elegant clematis texensis particularly ‘Gravetye Beauty’ on the grey wall. You won’t find many large flowered clematis because they are difficult to prune and temperamental to us. But ‘Nelly Moser’ is around in the front; and another Nelly by the East Grotto faces purple clematis x jackmanii climbing the West Grotto and twining with rosa ‘Mme Alfred Carriere’.